Who Needs a Reason to Watch a Watermelon Explode?

Arkem: I just explained your pun to a colleague. His head exploded.Me: Did his head really explode? And if so, would you be willing to give a graphic account of the event? I just wrote that happening to someone and am conducting research.

Seriously. Rick looked over my shoulder the other day and demanded to know why I had a gif of a watermelon exploding violently on my screen. This is why.*

Other things I researched in March include the psychology of addiction, earthquakes in San Francisco, masers, the life span of various animals, breakfast foods with three syllables, drugs that cause sleep, zoetropes, fluorescent lights, and the anatomy of a concussion. Most of these things were related to the book I’m writing. Although some of them only after I did the reading.

The thing with research is, I never know what’s going to be helpful. Sometimes reading about something directly related only gets me to: yes, so I was right. And reading about totally random stuff gives me ideas. Which is why I tend to ask people questions about, you know, anything they’ll answer.

* Also, I happen to know that if you get bored of using logical search terms and google, “if your head exploded what would get on someone next to you?” the eighth link is the IMDB page for Ghostbusters. Which I think is hilarious. But then I enjoy watching watermelons explode.